Improvement in combined crayon-holder and watch-key



J. HOFFMAN. Combined Crayon-Holder and Watch-Key.

Patented Aug. 5, 1.879.

NJF-TERS, FMQTO-UTHOGRAPMER, WASHINGTON. D C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH HOFFMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH REOKEN- DORFER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMBINED CRAYON-HOLDER AND WATCH-KEY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 218,267., dated August 5, 1879; application filed July 14, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPH HOFFMAN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Crayon-Holder and Watch-Key, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to lead and crayon holders which are provided with jaws adapted to open or close to clasp or release the lead, the said jaws being combined with means by which they may be clamped, so as to hold the lead. I make the same jaws to serve at pleasure either as a watch-key or as a lead-holder by squaring the acting or projecting ends of the jaws, so that they shall have internally the configuration of the barrel of a watch-key. Thus, when used as a pencil, the lead can be projected from the tubular part of the holder into the jaws, where it will be held in the usual way. When, on the contrary, the jaws are to be used as awatch-key, the lead is released and allowed to fall back or recede into the tubular receiver or holder back of the jaws, and the latter are thus free to be used for winding a watch.

The preferred form of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which is represented a device which in its general organization and mode of operation closely resembles .the lead-holder shown and described in Letters Patent No. 215,521, issued to Joseph Reckendorfer, as my assignee.

The main feature which my present device contains over and above those shown in the patented device referred to is the jaws squared or shaped to serve as a watch-key. I, of course, must make more special provision here for resisting torsional strain on the jaws or on the holder of which the jaws form part.

Figure l is a longitudinal central section of the combined holder and watch-key. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the jaws and tubular receiver detached. Fig. 3 is a plan on a reduced scale of a blank from which the receiver and jaws can be made. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the front part of the device. Fig. 5 is a front elevation, on a still larger scale, of the same.

So far as concerns the sheath A and its metal tip I), the tubular stem or receiver 13, the double inclined or tapered jaws G, the cap D, and the spring at, these parts are combined and operate together substantially in the same manner as described in the Letters Patent hereinbefore named, and to this extent require no further description here.

In this instance I limit the longitudiu al play of the tubular stem B by means of a washer, a, which is slipped ot'er .the stem and down past a stud or projection, c, on the stem, which, as soon as the washer has passed it, is turned or bent out far enough to prevent the washer from returning. The washer is thus held between the stud c and the front end of the sheath A, and limits the extent to which the stem and its jaws can be retracted by the spring d.

The jaws G, in order to do the double duty required of them, must be made of a metal harder than the metal usually employed in lead-holders. For this purpose I make them of steel. They may be either made separately from the stem, and then soldered to the latter, in which case the body of the stem can be made of brass, as usual, or they can be made of one piece of steel. The construction last named is that which is shown in the drawings.

In lieu of rolling the stern and jaws into the shape of a full cylinder, which would be difficult to do with steel where the tube is to be so small, I take a blank of proximately the shape shown in Fig. 3, give it a half-cylindrical shape with a jaw at each end of proper form, and then bend or swage it at the middle-say, at the dotted line in Fig. 3-so as to bring the two half-cylinders together, as shown in Fig. 2. This, of course, is but one of the numerous ways in which the stem and steel jaws can be produced.

In order to resist the torsional strain to which the jaws will be subjected when used as a watch-key, various means may be employed. I have found it most feasible to employ one or more tongues or ribs, 1'', formed externally on and extending longitudinally of the stem, near the front end of the same, said tongue or tongues entering a corresponding longitudinal groove or grooves, g, in the sheath A,

thus permitting free lengthwise movement of the stem, but at the same time preventing it or the jaws carried by it from rotating in the sheath. I have shown but one tongue and groove; but it will be understood that two or more can be employed, if desired.

The acting ends of the jaws U are squared, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, so that they have the form of a watch-key. When they have this shape they are none the less effective as lead'holding' jaws. I thus have in one instrument an expanding or adjustable watch-key and a lead or crayon holder, the same jaws having the double function specified.

The instrument can be used readily as a leadpeneil. \Yhen it is desired to use itas a watchkey, the cap is pressed forward with the effect of projecting the spring -jaws, which expand and release the lead. The lead falls back into the tubular stem or receiver, leaving the jaws clear and in readiness to be used as a watchkey.

The instrument can be made of any size and shape desired.

Having; described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 18-

1. A lead-holder in which the tubularlead-receiverorstem terminates injaws movable to and from one another to clamp and release the lead,

and shaped or squared to form a watch key, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbet'ore set forth, of the sheath, the tubular leadreceiving stem movable longitudinally with respect to the sheath, but incapable of rotating independently thereof, the retractingspring, and the tapered spring-jaws forming a continuation of said stem, and squared or shaped to form a watch-key, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the sheath, the longitudinally-movable tubular lead-holding stem and jaws, and the washer held between the front end of the sheath-body and a stud or projection on the stem.

4. The combination, substantially as'hereinbefore set forth, of the tubular lead-holding stem and jaws and the sheath united by a tongue-and-groove connection, which permits the longitudinal movement of said parts with respect to one another, but prevents the one from rotating independently of the other.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of July, A. I). 1879.

JOSEPH HOFFMAN.

\Vitnesses (J. S. BRAISTED, J OE. W. SWAINE. 

